Mask for striping wheels



oct. 9, 1934. F A NEUMAN 1,976,360

MASK FOR STRIPING WHEELS 2 Sheet's-Sheet l Filed July 25. 1951 la IW!!!In/vento@ gm a. 77mm Oct. 9, 1934. F. A. NEUMAN 1,976,360

MASK FOR STRIPING WHEELS Filed July 23, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 @zal d,7?'111171171 Patented Oct. 9, 1934 UNiTE SATES rnesto l??? T' FEC MASKFOR STRIPIN G VJHEELS Fred A. Neuman, Lan

General Motors Corporation,

sing, Mich., assigner to Detroit, Mich., a

8 Claims.

This invention relates to the striping of vehicle wheels and hasparticular reference to a device and method whereby a stripe or" adifferent colored paint may be placed on the wheel of a vehicle.

To paint a stripe on a wheel by hand was found to be too costly andwhere it is desired to use a stripe for the purpose of improving theappearance of the wheel, it has been found that the device of thepresent invention has proved of considerable value and has enabled themore ready and quicker application of a stripe and at much less cost.

In carrying out the invention, use is made of two masks which aresuccessively applied to the wheel during the painting operation. Eachmask covers the hub of the wheel and has nngers corresponding in numberto the spokes of the wheel. When in position on the wheel, the mask andiingers cover the hub and portions of spokes to which it is desired nopaint be applied. A coat of the paint is sprayed around the edges of thengers, the mask then removed and the second mask is then applied and asecond spray of coating of paint applied. The second mask is in allrespects similar to the rst except that the ngers are somewhat larger.After the second mask is removed, a thin stripel or ribbon of paint isleft on the wheel.

The mask per se comprises a central dished holder member and a plateresiliently mounted thereon. The edge of the plate extends beyond theholder and is formed into a plurality of sharply pointed fingers whichextend out over the spokes of the wheel. lThe holder has secured theretoa pair of springs for each linger, the ends of the springs extending outand contacting with the iingers at spaced apart points tightly to holdthe fingers against the spokes when the mask is in position. A stud orprojection on the holder extends into an opening in the wheel and servesto position the mask in a manner that the fingers will be positionedover the spokes.

1n the operation, the wheel is mounted on a suitable upright which isalso adapted to hold the mask in place.

On the drawings:

Figure 1 is a sectional view through the mask and mounting oftheinvention showing the parts in operative position, the view beingtakensubstantially on the line 1 -1 of Figure 2.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the vportion of a wheel showing the maskin position, the view being taken substantially on the line 2 2 ofFigure 1.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral 2 indicates the booth or housingin which the upright 4 is mounted. The booth has the opening 6 at itsiront, the purpose of which is to allow the insertion and removal ci thewheel and to permit the application of paint to the Wheel. The housinghas a ventilation opening at 8 to allow the withdrawal of paint iumes.

On the top of the upright 4, there is journalled the head l0 which hasthe bore 12 and the bushing 14 therein. An oil cup 16 lubricates thebearing surface of the bushing 14. Extending into the bushing 14 is arotatable axle 18 having the enlarged head 20 for the reception member22 of the wheel 24, the spokes of which are indicated at 26. The shaft18 is bored as indicated at 28 and receives therein the plunger 30, therear end or" which is straddled by the forked double cam member 32journalled by the pin 34. A handle 36 is used to operate the cam. Theplunger 30 has the head 38 which extends into the hollow portion of thesecuring member 40 having a neck 42 and a head 44, the purpose of thehub of which later will be described. The inner portion of the securingmember 40 is threaded and receives the hollow nut 46. As shown in Figure1, the plunger 30 passes through thenut 46 and a spring 48 is coniinedbetween one side of the nut and the head 38 while a second spring 50 isconfined between the nut and a shoulder 52 in the bored portion 28 ofthe shaft 18.

The mask ofthe invention is indicated as a whole at 54 and comprises theholder member 56, the positioning collar 58 and the plate 60 havingfingers 62. The holder 56 is hollow or dished as shown in Figure 1 andhas the peripheral annular liange 64.

A hook 66 is pivoted as at 68 adjacent the and out of engagement withthe neck 42 and head 44 as shown in Figure 2 to hold the wheel 24 on thehead 20. The dotted line position of Figure 2 shows the position ofthe'hook when it is desired to remove the wheel.

The plate 60 is resiliently secured to the holder 56 by means of aplurality of coil springs 68 mounted in housings 70 secured to the ange64 `of the holder 56. Each housing 70 is secured by means of the rivets72. Fourhousings are shown on the drawings but as many as desired may beused. A rivet or stud 74 has an enlarged head 76 which projects into thehousing. The shank por'- tion of the stud extends away from thel flange64 and has its end reduced and passes through .the plate 60 and isriveted thereto as shown at '77. The springs 68, as shown in Figure 1,areconned between the end of the housing 7,0 and the head '76 andconstantly urge the stud 74 away from the housing. The purpose of thisstructure is to enable the plate 60 of the mask readily. to bepositioned on the wheel and to cause the springs 78 and 80 rmly to pressthe fingers 62 against the spokes26., The springs. 78 and 80 are securedat their ends by means of the rivets 82 to the holder 54 and have theirfree ends conizo tacting with the fingers at spaced apart points asshown in Figure 1. There are two springs for each finger and as manyfingers as there are spokes on the wheel.

The wheels 24 are provided with an extra opening 84 in which there isadapted to be received the rubber head 86 of a positioning stud or bolt88 secured as at 90 to the holder 56'. When the head 86 enters theopening 84, each n'ger 62 and the point 91 thereof will be' positionedover a spoke as shown in Figure 2.

The holder 56 is provided with two handles 92 and 94 to assist in theapplication and removal of the mask 54.

In the operation of the device two masks, suchI as shown at 54, areprovided. These masks are identical in structure except that the iingersof one are larger than the fingers of the other, that is, they cover agreater area by an amount surncient to form a stripe of a desired width.The stripe width in the disclosure of the drawings is indicated by thearrows and the letter A in Figure 2.

The operation of the device is as follows. If the wheels are not alreadysprayed with the regular wheel color, the operator rst sprays at leastthe center portion of the wheel with the desired color. This sprayingmay be done while the wheel is on the mount or previously, If the Wheelis not already on the mount, it is now positioned on the head 20, themask 54 placed over the wheel so that the rubber head 86 of the stud 88is positioned in the opening 84 which will cause the fingers 62 to bepositioned as shown in Figure 2. The hook 66 is then thrown from thedotted line position in Figure 2 to the full line position. The lever 36(Figure l) is then swung from the full line position to the dotted lineposition. This will bring the cam into action and cause the plunger 30to be drawn to the right to pull and resiliently to hold the head 44against the hook 66 and rigidly to hold the mask and Wheel on the head20. The springs 48 and 50 will'y be compressed in this operation. Thewheel is, ofcourse, capable of being turned to any dcsired position. Itmay be rotated with the shaft 18` in the bearing 14, or the wheel andhead 10 are rotatable as a unit in the upright 4. When the mask isapplied, the springs 78 and 80 will tightly press the iingers 62 againstthe spokes 26, the mask thereby concealing all of the center portion ofthe wheel and a portion of the spokes. The operator then turns the paintgun on the wheel adjacent the iingers and gives the wheel a turn whichwill cause a spraying of the wheel entirely around the mask at theiingers. The mask 54 is then removed and the second mask having thelarger fingers is then applied. A seoond paint gun with a diiierentcolored paint is then applied in the same manner to give the regularwheel color. The mask is then removed and there is left a stripe of awidth represented by' the diierence in the size of the ii'ngers of thetWO mfasks.

Referring. to Figure 2, the letter B represents the rst color to beapplied to the wheel and which is applied prior to the application ofeither of the masks. This color may correspond to the regular color ofthe wheel or a different color if desired. The letter C represents thestripe which it' is desired to apply to the wheel. The paint of thecolor of the stripe C is applied when the mask with the smaller iingersis iixed to the wheel. This smaller mask willv cover the hub of thewheel and the spokes to the extent indicated by the lines D. The largermask in position is shown at E and covers over the painted section B aswell as an additional portion of a width of the stripe C. F indicatesthe iinal color (which may be the same as the color B) applied after themask E is in position.

I claim:

1. In a mask for painting spoked wheels, a dished holder adapted to beremovably secured over the wheel during the application of paintthereto, a collar secured in the dished portion and adapted to positionthe mask on the wheel, a plate secured to the holder, and a plurality ofiingers on said plate, said fingers covering the portion of the wheelnot to be painted.

2. In a mask for painting spoked wheels, a holder adapted to beremovably secured on the wheel, a plurality of lingers secured to theholder and adapted to cover the wheel portions not to be painted, andsprings secured to the mask and urging said iingers against the wheel.

3. In a mask for painting spoked wheels, a holder adapted to beremovably secured on the wheel, a plurality of fingers secured to theholder and adapted to cover the wheel portions not to be painted, and aplurality of springs for each iinger urging said ingers against thewheel, said springs secured to the mask.

4. In a mask for painting spoked wheels, a

holder adapted to be removably secured on the wheel, a plurality ofiingers secured to the holder and adapted to cover the wheel portionsnot to be painted, and a plurality of springs acting on each iinger atspaced points urging said lingers against the wheel, said springssecured to said mask.

5. In a mask for painting spoked wheels, a holder adapted to beremovably secured over the wheel side, a plurality of iingers secured tothe holder and extending over a part only of the spokes, the iingerscorresponding in number to the spokes, and means resiliently urging saidiingers against the spokes of the wheel when the mask is in position,said fingers and holder adapted to cover the portion of the wheel not tobe painted.

6. In a mask for painting spoked wheels, a holder adapted to beremovably secured over the wheel during the application of paintthereto, a plate secured to the holder, a plurality of fingers on saidplate and extending over a part only of said spokes, said fingerscorresponding in number to the spokes, said iingers and holder coveringthe portion of the wheel not to be painted, and means resiliently urgingsaid iingers against the spokes when the mask is in position.

'7. In a mask for painting spoked wheels, a holder adapted to beremovably secured over the wheel during the application of paintthereto, a plurality of pointed iingers connected to said holder andhaving arcuate sides and adapted to cover the portion of the spokes notto be painted, and means resiliently pressing the points of said fingersagainst the spokes.

8. In a mask for painting spoked wheels, a holder adapted to beremovably secured over the wheel duringr the application of paintthereto, a plate, means resiliently securing the plate to the holder,and a plurality of fingers with arcuate sides formed on the plate andcovering the portion of the wheel not to be painted.

FRED A. NEUMAN.

